Mon 22 Jun Having arrived at or hotel Golden Time Hostel 3 at 6am to find it padlocked and masquerading as a scooter park, it was fortunate the shop owner next door was setting up her stall on the pavement and shouted the young man sleeping in reception to wake him up! The doors were duly unlocked by a dazed looking employee and after a few seconds a smart young woman appeared and invited us to have breakfast. Bread Butter and Jam on the menu turned out to be a bread roll, jam and a processed cheese slice! We were due to be picked up for a trip to Nimh Binh at 8.00 so left our luggage at the hotel and set off to see the Hoa Lu Temples. Hoa Lu used to be the capital and the cultural, economic and political centre of the Dai Co Viet province of Vietnam in the 10th and 11th centuries. It was founded by the local warlord Dinh Bo Linh in 968, posthumously known as Dinh Tiên Hoàng or "First Dinh Emperor"), following years of civil war and a violent secessionist movement against China's Southern Han Dynasty. Hoa Lư was the native land of the first two imperial dynasties of Vietnam: the Dinh, founded by Đinh Tiên Hoàng, and the Early Lê founded by Le Dai Hanh following the demise of the Lê Dynasty, in 1010 Ly Cong Uan the founder of the Ly Dynasty transferred the capital to Thăng Long (now Hanoi), and Hoa Lư became known as the "ancient capital." Today, the ancient citadel no longer exists, and few vestiges of the 10th century remain. You can see temples built in honour of the emperors Đinh Tiên Hoàng and Lê Đại Hành, their sons, and Queen Duong Van Nga who, interestingly, was married first to Đinh Tiên Hoàng and then to Lê Đại Hành. The king is dead, long live the king! After lunch we visited the tunnels in Tam Coc by rowing boat. Not unusual, you think except for the fact that the women and men row with their feet! Its an amazing skill and would definitely keep you fit! Apparently there is a lot of competition for this job so they are only allowed to work once a week! We were on the lake for 1.5 hrs and were expertly guided through the 3 caves Hang - Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba. Even on the lake there were women waiting at the end with chilled drinks and craft items to sell you! When we arrived back at the hotel, hot and weary we discovered that the hotel had let our room for an extra night to the previous occupant so we were given the choice of two other rooms! Tom was incandescent and wanted to go and tell our squatters to move rooms. I just wanted a shower and bed so in the end we settled on a room on the fourth floor on with the proviso that they carried our bags upstairs, which they duly did! Tom's day got worse when he checked his email to say that our next tour to Ha Giang was in doubt due to Tropical Storm Kujira which was forecast to travel right through the area. We arranged to meet up with the guide the following day to discuss it.
On Tue 23 Jun we went to the Ho Chi Minh museum as we had not had time on the previous visit to the Mausoleum as everything closes for lunch! We arrived at 11.25 and had a quick look round. Everything on the ground floor is in Vietnamese and a bit dry but on the upper floors the displays are much more engaging but a brief knowledge of Viet history would help you appreciate it more. We walked to the Museum of Vietnam Military History only to fond that opened at 1.30 so we went to Highland Coffee café and had an iced coffee and shared a sandwich. There is quite a lot to see so allow a couple of hours. We made the mistake of taking a taxi which had a 'dodgy' meter and the journey which had cost us 50,000 VD in the morning had become 90,000. Tom told the driver he was not happy, paid him but made a show of standing in front of the taxi, taking down his registration etc. surprisingly the window was lowered and some notes appeared! Now back at the hotel we met the tour rep and his colleague at 3pm. After weighing up the safety factors Tom had to overcome his massive disappointment and cancelled the trip to Ha Giang leaving us with more days in Ha Noi and more room negotiations with the hotel! (we ended up staying in three rooms here in total 401,101, and finally 201 - don't ask!) On Wed 24 Jun the Tropical Rain Storm Kujira did indeed hit and by the afternoon it was causing a deluge in Ha Noi too. We decided to go for a massage! In the evening we went to New Day Restaurant which was recommended by the hotel. It was really busy and had lots of Vietnamese customers - always a good sign! Spring rolls to start, I had Special fried rice and Tom had Spicy Fish Curry and a soft drink £ 5.70!
On Thu 25 Jun the rain had abated and we went to the Vietnam History Museum which also closed at 12pm so we splashed out and went for lunch at Le Bon Café which is between the two museum buildings. Tom had fish wraps Cha Ca Hanoi, I had Bun Bo Nam Bo - Beef and rice noodles. We decided to finish with an ice cream and tried out our Vietnamese which caused much hilarity with the waitress. Who knew the word for strawberry, Dåu was pronounced ( tsow)!? Back at the museum we looked at the sections we had missed earlier. There have been so many conflicts with different countries it's hard to work out the chronology at times. Fri 26 Jun was a lazy day for me, I caught up on our Blog, Tom went for run around Hoan Kiem lake, marveling at the morning activity and then carried on planning the next stage of our adventure. In the evening we went to New Day Restaurant and I had Spicy fish and Tom had Chicken Curry. Starter, two mains and a drink all for £5.88! Sat 27 Jun another rest and planning day. Sun 28 Jun we were picked up at 8.30 to go to the Perfume Pagoda. It was a 3hr journey to the Nimh Binh district and when we arrived we were put into boats to complete the journey. It was estimated to take an hour and we were sat in cramped conditions in extreme heat. By the time we arrived I had lost all sensation in my right leg and Tom could barely get off the boat! We decided there and then we were going back on a boat with an outboard motor! We walked up steps to a restaurant and it was decided we were going to eat. It's now 12.45 and we're no closer to the Perfume Pagoda! We had decided we wanted to take the cable car and it seems the rest of the group had the same idea. After walking up more steps we got to the cable car station. Another long wait - I think they wait for a minimum number before operating! The view from the cable car was pretty spectacular and cooler! After a short walk we were at the entrance to the Perfume Pagoda. Now only 120 steps down into the cave, the Perfume Pagoda is the entrance. The cave is a temple and you have to be suitably covered up. If you enter further into the temple there is a very ornate altar with some surreal effigies with flashing lights around their heads! This is clearly a place of immense importance to the Vietnamese who make pilgrimages to the top every year between January and March but it's not really a tourist destination. Another wait for the returning cable car. One family with a toddler decided to do the 1,000 step walk and they got back before us! We got a motor boat back for an extra 40,000 VND each but it was well worth it! Back on the coach for the journey back to Hanoi. Not a trip I would recommend! Hanoi on the other hand is a fascinating, vibrant, bustling place with a wealth of history. If you are prepared to be constantly offered hats, fans and bananas, are not obsessed with health and safety and are prepared to barter for most things this is the place for you!